Issue 6, 2011

Visualising the equilibrium distribution and mobility of organic contaminants in soil using the chemical partitioning space

Abstract

Assessing the behaviour of organic chemicals in soil is a complex task as it is governed by the physical chemical properties of the chemicals, the characteristics of the soil as well as the ambient conditions of the environment. The chemical partitioning space, defined by the air–water partition coefficient (KAW) and the soil organic carbonwater partition coefficient (KOC), was employed to visualize the equilibrium distribution of organic contaminants between the air-filled pores, the pore water and the solid phases of the bulk soil and the relative importance of the three transport processes removing contaminants from soil (evaporation, leaching and particle erosion). The partitioning properties of twenty neutral organic chemicals (i.e. herbicides, pharmaceuticals, polychlorinated biphenyls and volatile chemicals) were estimated using poly-parameter linear free energy relationships and superimposed onto these maps. This allows instantaneous estimation of the equilibrium phase distribution and mobility of neutral organic chemicals in soil. Although there is a link between the major phase and the dominant transport process, such that chemicals found in air-filled pore space are subject to evaporation, those in water-filled pore space undergo leaching and those in the sorbed phase are associated with particle erosion, the partitioning coefficient thresholds for distribution and mobility can often deviate by many orders of magnitude. In particular, even a small fraction of chemical in pore water or pore air allows for evaporation and leaching to dominate over solid phase transport. Multiple maps that represent soils that differ in the amount and type of soil organic matter, water saturation, temperature, depth of surface soil horizon, and mineral matters were evaluated.

Graphical abstract: Visualising the equilibrium distribution and mobility of organic contaminants in soil using the chemical partitioning space

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Feb 2011
Accepted
01 Apr 2011
First published
02 Jun 2011

J. Environ. Monit., 2011,13, 1569-1578

Visualising the equilibrium distribution and mobility of organic contaminants in soil using the chemical partitioning space

F. Wong and F. Wania, J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 1569 DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10109A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements